Mayhem Brawler celebrates Halloween with awesome retro beat-’em-up art

Throwdown Throwback

This weekend sees the coming of October 31 and the spooky-ooky traditions of Halloween. While many video game brands will take the opportunity to celebrate with a little dress-up silliness, the protagonists of Hero Concepts’ Mayhem Brawler might have outdone themselves, as showcased in these lovely comic-book pieces from the title’s talented artists.

As featured on the game’s official blog, the three super-fun drawings depict Stronghold agents Dolphin, Star, and Trouble paying tribute to the classic 1990s beat-’em-ups that inspired Mayhem Brawler‘s hard-hitting 2D action. The first image sees the trio trick-or-treating as Tyrus Flair, Gilius Thunderhead, and Ax Battler from Sega’s Golden Axe, the second features the lawmakers chilling in a dingy arcade as Cody, Guy, and Mike Hagger from Capcom’s legendary Final Fight, while the third sees the threesome joined by Captain Madison for a little Streets of Rage 2 cosplay. There’s no sign of best character She-Wolf — but when you’re an Actual Werewolf, every day is Halloween I’d imagine.

They’re all fantastic images, I’m sure you’ll agree. I think perhaps the most curious element is the way all of the characters look immediately comfortable in their new guises. Star as Final Fight‘s Guy might be my favourite here. It’s a great way for the developer to pay tribute to the titles that paved the way for the recent beat-’em-up renaissance. I particularly like the fish-eye lens effect on the Golden Axe image, which is a really nice element that adds to the whole trick-or-treat aspect… But don’t let them in, obviously, they’re cops.

Mayhem Brawler is available now on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It is currently enjoying a 20% price discount, so if you fancy throwing a few fists in the comic book ‘burg’s avenues and alleyways, now would be a fine time.

Happy Halloween Officers!
Witching you all a very haunted and freakishly scary Halloween!🎃🦇 #MayhemBrawler #HappyHalloween #Arcade #Urbanfantasy #Beatemup #RiseoftheBeatemUps #GoldenAxe #StreetsofRage #FinalFight #WeLoveBeatemUps #Cosplay #videogames #indiegame #halloweencards pic.twitter.com/l7qedHFoQj

— Hero Concept (@HeroConcept) October 28, 2021